Could Digital Inclusion Close the Gender Economic Gap in the MENA Region ?

Closing the gender digital divide by ensuring equal access to and benefit of the internet may reduce economic inequalities and close the gender gap in employment by providing new economic opportunities and facilitating access to market information. This paper estimates the impact of digital inclusion, measured by the Inclusive Internet Index on the female-to-male labor force participation ratio, while controlling for other economic and social factors. Using data from the World Development Indicators, the Economist Intelligence Unit database, and the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law database for 13 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region for four years (2018 to 2021), a pooled cross section dataset is constructed. The model is estimated using generalized least squares to control for heteroskedasticity. The results show that an inclusive internet environment would reduce the gender gap in the labor force. Other key drivers include the structure of the economic growth, norms, and gender roles in the society. These results are relevant for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals agenda, mainly goals 5 and 10.